With over 130 years of experience ministering to an urban community, Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN, has a mission to provide everyone who enters the church a place to find a home. To continue ministering to their fullest extent, they needed a software solution to build a foundation for financial management.
After struggling with their old system for months, Idlewild Presbyterian reached out, both within the walls of their church and beyond, looking for a new software solution to support their mission-minded ministry. Because their previous system was predominantly staff-facing, the leaders at Idlewild Presbyterian knew they needed a solution that would allow their congregants to play a more active role in everything from managing their online giving to fundraising for missions. They found their answers with Realm®.
Realm enabled Idlewild Presbyterian to manage multiple pledge campaigns at one time. The pledge campaign feature made it easy to organize capital so the leadership team could project their budget for the year.
“Our budget comes from our pledges,” says Jenni Brooks, Director of Operations. “We don’t budget for what we don’t have, so the giving aspect of Realm is important for us. I could see it helping us grow in the future.”
Realm’s eGiving feature continues to be beneficial beyond large pledge campaigns. Congregants can set up automatic recurring gifts online instead of a staff member manually processing the payments twice a month. They can also access their giving statements online or through the app rather than waiting for a paper copy to be mailed to them.
“One of the most key pieces so far is pointing people to the giving portal,” says Jenni. “Realm makes it easier for staff to process church contributions, for congregants to see their statements, and for people to set up their own recurring giving. It’s been really helpful not having people relying entirely on the financial department.”
With Realm as a new ministry partner, Idlewild Presbyterian has used the system to create the necessary foundation for the congregation to provide everyone who enters the church a place to find a home.
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